Number Eleven Comes in First Volleyball Win Over Carlow
The PSUGA Volleyball team won their 11th straight game when they defeated Carlow 3-2 on Tuesday. It was the team's first-ever win over Carlow as they moved to 14-7 on the year.
Pittsburgh, PA. - It has been a season of firsts for the Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team (14-7, 6-2) and on Tuesday, they crossed off another first. They extended their season-high 11 game winning streak defeating Carlow University for the first time in school history with a 3-2 win.
PSUGA came ready to play right from set one as the battled Carlow to a win-by-two scenario tying things at 24-24 late in the set. The two teams went back and forth trading the next six points of the set before PSUGA finished it off scoring the last two points and a 29-27 first set win.
Carlow came back to take wins in the next two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-20 and PSUGA found themselves down 2-0. However, Alyssa Finocchi's team buckled down and had to battle their way back into the match.
They did just that jumping out to a 7-1 lead in set three and had Carlow sitting back on their heels. It was a lead they were able to hold for the rest of the set and PSUGA evened the match with a 25-22 fourth set win. It was only the second time PSUGA has gone to five sets this season and they won that match against PSU-Shenango.
History was able to repeat itself as, after a long battle, PSUGA got the advantage late in the set and ran to a 15-11 win to win the match 3-2. It was PSUGA's first win against Carlow in nine previous match-ups and moving their winning streak to 11 straight games.
It was a strong defensive effort that led to PSUGA's success when they set a new single-game team record with 131 digs in the win. Juliana Brill (Mount Jackson, VA./Stonewall Jackson HS) led the effort with a career-high 35 digs while Andrea Ghiloni (Granville, OH./Granville HS) added 26 digs on the night.
Offensively, Sophomores Alix Ellis (Derry, PA./Derry Area HS) and Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite, TX./West Mesquite HS) led the way with nine kills a piece in the win. Kaylee Holtzman (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS) and Alexa Martell (Elizabeth, PA./Elizabeth Forward HS) added six kills a piece in the win.
PSUGA improved their season record to 14-7 and hasn't lost a game since September 21st. They finish our the year with five Penn State University Athletic Conference games as the PSUAC playoff race comes down to the wire over the final three weeks of the season.
PSUGA Volleyball will be back in action on Saturday when they host Penn State Dubois at 2 p.m. inside the Wunderley Gym.